The Language of Our Love
by romeothewriter
Summary: Of all of the many things that Aubrey had ventured into, this particular undertaking was most admirable. She was not doing it for the pride or praise of their father. She was not doing it for academic advances or her professional future. She was doing it for a little girl in her class that was deaf simply because she wanted to be her friend. AU One Shot


**_A/N: Okay, short one shot based on a post I saw about hope stories on Tumblr. I don't know. It may not be up to par, but I needed to get it out, so here it is!_**

* * *

"Jenna! Jenna! Jenna!"

A flash of honey yellow blurred through the kitchen door, zooming the length of the room and colliding into the refrigerator door which stood ajar. The buzzing ball of energy was reflected off of it, crashing to the ground with a surprised yelp. The elder gasped, closing the refrigerator door and setting down the pitcher of juice in her hand. She knelt beside the younger, inspecting her for any damage. This had to be serious. Her little sister prided herself on being pragmatic, poised, regal. Even at the age of seven.

"Aubrey, what on Earth are you doing!" she shrieked as the little girl sat up, rubbing her head. "You could have hurt yourself running in here like that! Why-"

The small blonde then remembered why she had dashed all the way home from the school bus stop five minutes down the street, and her eyes snapped wide open. She jumped up, tugging on her older sister's hand.

"Jenna, Jenna, come on! Get your keys! We have to go!"

The elder did not budge. "Whoa, Bree, slow down. Where do we have to go?"

"To the library! Like now! Before it closes for the weekend! I _have _to get these books before the weekend so that I can finish them sooner!"

"What books! Look, we aren't going anywhere until you calm down and explain yourself."

The elder blonde released her sister's hand, opting to cross her arms over her chest with a stern look in place. Aubrey, now realizing how flustered and abrasive she had been, seemed to deflate. Her posture straightened without further hitch, and she drew in a deep breath. Emerald green eyes lost a large majority of their mirth, replacing it with graceful assertion and relentless determination. Oh, a Posen was bred and groomed from the time of birth to be as such, always perfect, always flawless. Jenna had simmered down during her teenage years. She only hoped that Aubrey, ever the perfectionist seeking their father's praise, could do the same. With a vocabulary that spanned across twice her years and a posture that could shame English monarchs, Jenna wondered how it was that she was a human child and not a robot clone.

"I need - to get books on sign language from the library," she explained in a slow but stern tone. "I need to find books that can teach me this weekend."

"Aubrey, I don't think you can learn an entire language in one weekend."

"It's President's Day on Monday."

"Okay, I don't think that you can learn an entire language in three days."

"It's much simpler than many other languages, and I really just need to get through the basics."

"Bree, you're seven years old. You have some time before you'll ever need to use sign-"

"No, I don't!" The anger was subtle but halting. "Beca already knows sign language, and she doesn't have anyone to talk to, and Chloe tried to talk to her on a piece of paper, but she can't write very well, and Beca doesn't read very well, and I told Chloe that I wanted to learn, but she said that she likes her so I shouldn't, but you see, Chloe always gets everything! She got Stacie as her painting partner, and she got Amy as her movie partner even if she knew I wanted them, but she only wants Beca because she's new, and she doesn't care that Beca can't hear, but I do, and she deserves a friend that cares!"

When she finished her rant, she was breathing heavily, tiny fists shaking at her side with impatient anger and flourishing anxiety. Jenna was lost for words, mouth hanging open and arms going limp in front of her. At last, once she had processed all that her younger sister had said, her green eyes softened, and she grinned.

"So you want to learn sign language for Beca because she's deaf, and you want to be her friend?" she asked in a cautious tone so as not to set off the tiny blonde.

Aubrey exhaled slowly, responding with a firm nod. "Yes."

"Oh. Well, okay then, Kiddo. Let's go to the library then."

* * *

"Jenna, where is your sister?" Mr. Posen questioned as he surveyed the living room.

He had just returned from a business trip, and he was surprised to find that Aubrey wasn't seated at the grand piano in the den where she was usually found on Saturday afternoons. Jenna looked up from the book that she was reading so that she could look at the man. He returned an expectant gaze, frozen in the doorway.

"Oh, she's upstairs," Jenna returned. "She's learning sign language. We went to the library yesterday, and she checked out a few books on it."

He seemed to turn over the information in his mind for an extensive amount of time before deriving his reaction to it. Jenna, without a thought, held her breath as he did so, hoping that he did not punish Aubrey for not practicing chopsticks today. He soon nodded, allowing her to expel said breath in relief.

"Very well," he grunted. "And your mother?"

"She's gone to get groceries for dinner tonight. She didn't expect you home so soon."

"They gave us an earlier flight. Have you finished your homework?"

She neglected to mention the three - day weekend. "Yes, Sir."

"And your sister?"

"Yes, Sir, she did."

"Very well. Go upstairs, and make sure that your sister is still doing as you say she is."

"Yes, Sir."

She did not even consider disobeying or talking back to him. Folding her page over in order to save it, she set her book on the coffee table and headed upstairs. The man then retired to his study, but she continued her trek up to the younger blonde's room. As she reached it, she pressed an ear to the wood. She heard nothing, and she suspected that Aubrey had at last taken a nap. She had not slept much the night prior, up all night with her new study, and the elder knew that she needed it. Jenna reached for the door handle, turning it in silence and cracking open the door. She did not find Aubrey in bed however. The younger girl was sat in front of her mirror signing out phrases and words from the book that sat open in front of her. Her eyes were slightly hooded, and her movements were weary, but she perservered. Jenna leaned against the doorway now, smiling with an air of tenacious pride about her. Of all of the many things that Aubrey had ventured into, this particular undertaking was most admirable. She was not doing it for the pride or praise of their father. She was not doing it for academic advances or her professional future. She was doing it for a little girl in her class that was deaf, and Jenna knew that not many seven - year - olds would take on such a task for another child. She would be sure to tell her that as well the next time the younger spazzed out over doing something worthless or wrong in Matthew Posen's eyes.

* * *

"Do you have everything? Lunch, books, homework?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to walk you in?"

A scoff. "No, Jen, I can walk myself."

"Oh, I know, but I just - well, good luck. With Beca."

"Thank you."

Aubrey stepped out of her sister's car, walking across the street after looking both ways and entering the playground. Jenna could not help but hesitate to leave, watching as her sister, posture perfect and eyes focused, approached a much tinier girl with long brown hair. When that little brunette flashed a crooked smile though, it had an instantaneous impact on the blonde. Aubrey visibly relaxed more than Jenna had ever seen, and she responded with a rare, wide grin. She put down her lunchbox and book bag, and she signed out what Jenna assumed was a greeting. The brunette lit up, her smile turning into a genuine one that reached her eyes as she signed back a similar message. Before she knew it, Jenna had tears streaming down her face. She had never seen her little sister so happy. Sure, she had been friends with Chloe for a long time growing up down the street from one another, but it was obvious that the blonde had always felt intimidated by the fiery redhead. Everyone loved Chloe, who was hyperactive and friendly where Aubrey was reserved and slow "act in such childish manner" the way their father had put it. This was different from Chloe. This Beca girl must have been something special. Maybe time would tell.

* * *

"Aubrey, hurry up! We have like - five minutes!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" A moment of silence. "Oh my gosh! I'm freaking out!"

Jenna ripped open the door to find her sister leaning over the sink looking about ready to vomit. It wouldn't be a surprise. The girl had developed the nervous tick very young, maybe eight or nine during a school Spelling Bee. Luckily, she had held it in until _after _she had spelled the winning word. It would not have boded over well with Mr. Posen. Jenna smiled at the memory, moving to rub circles on the small of her back. For years, another had done this job, only one person being completely capable of calming her before sparks flew. Jenna hoped she could fill in just this once.

"Hey, calm down," she coaxed. "You don't wanna toss cookies on that dress. It's priceless."

"Ugh, I know, and I didn't want this one. I mean, I did, but it was so much, and I said no, but-"

"Aubrey." The younger snapped her mouth shut, whimpering. "You're rambling."

"I know, but - I'm so nervous."

"Hey, it's going to be okay. You've been waiting for this day for ages. It's time."

Aubrey now looked up at her older sister in the mirror. "He - he isn't coming, is he?"

The elder sighed. "Bree, listen to me, okay? Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Maybe he isn't waiting outside that door for you, but you know who is? That little girl that you dragged me to the library for so that you could learn sign language in one weekend? You remember her? The one that you taught to read when she became too stubborn to try in school because the teachers didn't really care enough to be sympathetic, patient? The one who rubbed your back each time you got nervous enough to vomit? She's out there, Bree. Beca's out there, and I know she has a very special surprise for you, so - you need to get it together. What did I always tell you? Maybe you didn't ever earn Mr Posen's praise in the way you wanted, but you found something way better. Love, Bree. True love. It's time to embrace it. _She'll _be there."

As the words sunk in, Aubrey's demeanor altered from defeat to that old Aubrey Posen determination. Her sister was right. The little girl that she had learned an entirely new language for twenty years ago was right outside in the Botanical Gardens waiting to marry her. _Her. _Aubrey Posen, and she was in here fretting about her father's possible absence, despite knowing of it nine months ago when Beca proposed and she informed him of it. Beca loved her though, and it was enough. It had always been enough, but she could never accept it. Her mother was there. Her sister, her best friend. They were all there, and _they _were happy for her. If her father wasn't, so what? It wasn't his life. It was hers, and she wanted to spend it with Beca.

"Okay," she breathed, standing up straight. "I'm ready. Let's do it."

Jenna grinned. "There's my girl. Come on."

Mr. Posen wasn't waiting outside of the door for her, but her mother was there to step in. Lena Posen led her younger daughter down the aisle with Jenna, Chloe and Stacie following close behind in their navy blue bridesmaid's dresses. Navy blue. Aubrey's favorite color, the color of her beloved's eyes. They had become her favorite book, teaching her all she needed to know about the once mysterious Beca Mitchell who wrote lyrics to music she couldn't hear, the eyes that said words that she could not sign. Those navy blue orbs were a work of art, and Aubrey would now wake up to them fluttering before her for the rest of her life.

"Good evening, everyone," the justice began. "We are gathered here today to unite the minds, bodies, and souls of two people who started this journey together long ago in a world without sound that compensated with love. We have watched them grow together, learn from each other, and fall hopelessly in love, a love that gives the most common folk hope. Aubrey Gabrielle Posen and Beca Jade Mitchell wish to make this everlasting oath with you as their witnesses, so Aubrey, please recite your vows."

The blonde took a deep breath, looking into those stormy blue orbs that now glinted with mirth, and she smiled. She brought her hands up to sign it out though it wasn't needed. Beca had learned to read Aubrey's lips without hitch. Nonetheless, old habits died hard.

"Well, when I met you, you were the tiny, mysterious girl who always wore an Atlanta Storm hoodie and couldn't hear anything. That didn't deter me, even at seven. Well, nothing could really deter a Posen, but you know." Everyone chuckled. "Even that smirk, which irked me to no end for years, but - in the best way. It was your thing, a part of you that I hated to love, but I did. We've been through so much together. You - you taught me true strength, Beca. I used to think I was strong until I met you, until we were teenagers, and you handled being pushed around and yelled at in stride. Of course, you couldn't hear the insults, but I could, and you stopped me from punching Barb Dennison in the nose. You were always the bigger person even though you're really the shortest." A scowl and a round of laughter. "You wrote song lyrics without music. You read everything you could find on Google about music, and it made me so sad, but it made you so happy. You loved the idea of it, just the idea. Not many people could find the beauty in such a thing. You found the beauty in everything, even in me and my rigid posture that you teased me about so much. You always put me first, and you never allowed anyone to pity you or treat you like a victim. Your hearing was simply something you didn't have, like a toy that other kids took for granted. It wasn't important. It didn't make you any less invaluable, and you knew that. You are my strength, Beca Mitchell, and I will forever prove how grateful I am for it. I love you."

Beca grinned now as Aubrey finished, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze.

"And now Beca," the justice said, facing the brunette fully so that she read his lips.

The brunette playfully pointed at herself with wide eyes, and Aubrey giggled before nodding. She then nodded as well and took a deep breath before putting her hands up. Her brother Jesse stood behind her, prepared to translate so that everyone could hear the vows.

"Aubrey, I will never forget that painfully perfect girl that walked up to me on my first day in school and told me you were going to learn to talk to me. Even then, I could read your lips. Then you came back three days later, and you could. You could talk to me. No one else even tried, but you - you learned a whole language at seven years old. Yes, Posens are very relentless." Another chuckle. "You never treated me as if I were fragile or handicapped or any of that. I have always admired that perseverance, the way that you do not slow down until you make head way. You never quit, and you never back down. To have a little girl come up to you and tell you that she's going to learn sign language just to be your friend? Well, it's one of those rare occasions where you _know _that they are going to be a very important person in your life, for the long haul. Maybe I didn't know then, but it didn't take me long to figure it out. I always knew that you would be there though. Yes, we butted heads. We are both stubborn, but we are also both anything but quitters. I suppose many would have just walked away when things got as tough as they did in this relationship, but neither of us could do that. For that, I'm grateful. You challenge me. You call me out on my mistakes, on my flaws, but you only do it for my own good even if I get mad at the time. I know that. You have always been _my _strength, Aubrey. You pushed me to limits I had never dreamed of, and though I didn't say it, every single limit I ever tested was with the faith that you would be beside me no matter what. For that, I vow to always test the limits for you, to fight for you even when you fight against me. Even if I couldn't hear you, I will always listen to you because I vow for the rest of my life to make you happy." A wide grin now spread across the translators face, Aubrey missing it. "However, it's just your luck that I can."

Confusion instantly blanketed Aubrey's face at this final line, and she quirked an eyebrow.

"Can what, Love?" she asked, accentuating each word.

Beca smiled warmly now, taking Aubrey's hands in her own. Then a voice, one Aubrey had never heard but had always dreamed of, broke a moment of delicate silence. She gasped as she watched the brunette's lips move, sound protruding from them.

"I - can - hear you," the voice said, only just a bit shaky and slightly raspy. "I love you, Aubrey."

The tears were immediate, and gasps went around the room from the few who had not yet known why Beca had been away for the past three months. Aubrey had assumed it was nothing more than a business trip with Jesse, the normal life of a songwriter. She of course had to do more work than others, so the blonde understood. She wasn't aware that her fiancee had received a simple surgery and hearing aids that enabled her to hear before Jesse had worked day and night to teach her to speak the basics in time for the wedding.

"Beca," she breathed. "You - you-"

"I - love you, Aubrey. I - can hear you."

"I - I love you too."

Moments later, the two words that Aubrey thought she would never hear were uttered from those beautiful lips that she so thoroughly enjoyed.

"I do."

Not a second passed before she crashed their lips together in a passionate kiss, thanking the powers that be for such a beautiful gift.

"How?" she mumbled into the kiss.

"You - learned for me. I - learned for you."

"Oh, I love you, Beca Mitchell."

"I - love you too, Aubrey Mitchell."

And Aubrey decided that her name had never sounded so good.


End file.
